Featured Cloth Diaper WAHM: Cheryl of Stitch N' Stuff

Q: What Led You to Start Using Cloth Diapers?

A: My initial motivation to use cloth diapers was the cost and waste of disposables. While investigating cloth diapering options, I learned that the disadvantages of disposables went well beyond those two factors, and the choice to use cloth was clear.

Q: How did you go about making cloth diapers your business?

A: I was looking up cloth diapering options on line and came across the styles offered by BabyByYou!. I really liked the styling of the HoneyBoy! Diaper so I bought the pattern and made some for my son. When I gave up my career as an account manager to stay at home with my children, I quickly realized that I would still need to bring in some income to support our family. When I saw the opportunity to sell HoneyBoy! Diapers as a WAHM, in addition to the embroidery business I had recently started it seemed like a perfect fit.

Q: Was starting your business difficult?

A: I think that starting any business has its challenges, and this one was no exception. I had plenty of business experience, but not in this field or e-commerce, and I had a lot to learn; I still have a lot to learn.

Q: How do you manage to run a business with small children?

A: Some days I wonder that myself! It definitely is challenging but worth the extra effort. Most of my work gets done at nap time during the day, in the evenings, and on weekends. My sewing room is combined with a play area for my kids where I can keep an eye on them while working. I've also learned to type with one hand which has come in very handy.

Q: What does your home office look like?

A: I would have to say it's about a 70/30 mix of fabric and toys. I have my main computer in the den where I do most of my on line work and I keep my shipping supplies and smaller accessories there too. After I started making diapers, we renovated our basement to make a real sewing room and reclaim our dining room. The area we had budgeted for my sewing has now grown about 3 fold to accommodate rolls and rolls of fleece and countless bins of other fabrics (so much for adding another bedroom!). I have a cutting table and an 'L' shaped table that my husband made that holds my 3 sewing machines with my laptop squished in between. The walls are covered with racks of thread and shelving. On the other side of my sewing table is the kids' play area.

Q: What Is The Most Rewarding Thing About Running Your Home Business?

A: I would have to say the most rewarding thing is being able to be home and raise my children. It's also very rewarding to know that I'm still involved in business; my business, and it's doing well.

Q: What new an exciting things can we expect in the future?

A: With the HoneyBoy! Line you can expect more fun and adorable designs and I'll probably start stocking some non-appliqued diapers, covers and pull ups for a more economical diapering option.

I'm also very excited about my new line of cloth diapers called Monkey Doodlez.

The idea with the Monkey Doodlez was to offer an economically priced, high quality cloth diaper with enough variations to suit the needs of most families.

It took about a year of trying different cuts and fabrics to finally get a design that not only I was happy with, but that the moms who were helping with product testing also liked. I still have a lot of work ahead to get a large product base stocked in my stores, marketing, and finishing the store front of www.monkeydoodlez.com, but it's off to a good start and I'm very excited about the future!

Favorite Quote: "You only get to raise your children once; you can buy all the junk later". Said by a little old lady who stood next to me in line at the grocery store.